As the sunshine has started to make an appearance and the days are getting longer, we can’t help but think that it really has been a long winter. We’ve had many grey days, some snow as well as a few rainy days. Add to that the fact that Christmas seems like it was a million years ago (slight exaggeration, I know) and you may be left feeling “not your usual self”

Getting in shape is on the cards as summer holidays will soon be on their way but tiredness from the Winter months is biting us and vitamin supplements seem to be flying off the shelves. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are great (I take them myself) but it’s very important to make sure that you eat foods that contain the natural sources of these vitamins as well. So I’ve put together a list of some feel-great foods and recipe suggestions that will give you a “perk me up” for the upcoming months.

  • Salmon: I love Salmon, there are so many things you can do and it is a great source of vitamin D. A large part of our vitamin D supply comes from the Sun but it is important that we get this through diet as well because as you may have noticed England isn’t exactly the most tropical of places! Deficiency in Vitamin D can leave you feeling tired, weak and can cause muscle pain. My favourite recipe with Salmon is from BBC Good Food, Teriyaki Salmon with Pak Choi. Nice and low in calories as well!
  • Spinach: Spinach is such a good food. You can use it in so many ways and it’s yummy, filling and very high in Folic Acid. Commonly known as Vitamin B12, deficiency of this can lead to Anaemia which can leave you feeling tired, dizzy and can cause pale skin. My favourite recipe for this food comes from Jamie Oliver and it’s curried cauliflower, potatoes, chickpeas and spinach Dhal. It’s lovely and rich and suitable for vegetarians.
  • Nuts: This is always a very debated food. They are very high in all the good stuff but very calorific and we should always be aware of how many nuts we are eating a day. They are a fantastic source of Iron which, like folic acid, is very important to keep up the pace in our day to day life. My favourite recipe for this is a nut roast. Again, you need to be careful with how much of this you eat but it can be a filling option as an alternative to bread. I’m not going to lie, when I first made it, it looked pretty disgusting but I was pleasantly surprised by the rich taste.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did and hopefully as the summer months approach you will begin to feel much better. Just remember to keep smiling J

 

With much love as always,

Tilly Kyle

Better Body Group, Sevenoaks